Johns Brook Lodge — Hotel in Town of Keene

Just stayed at the JBL with my two kids ages 11 and 14. We arrived at the garden parking area in the afternoon and were lucky to get the last spot. While parking, another opened up but the lot was full for the most part. Parking is cash only and we paid $30 for two nights. ||The hike in is 3.5 miles and took us 1.5 hours. The lodge itself was great and the sleeping rooms looked like they had recently been built. There are two ten person bunk rooms and two four person rooms. Each ten person room connects to a bathroom with vault toilet and two sinks. Toilet paper and soap are provided and there is running water and light in the bathroom. There was a dead mouse in the bathroom one day which was removed shortly after. I only mention this because this is a remote cabin with limited facilities so know what you are getting into if you are expecting more of an hotel type of experience. Earplugs are also available. The bunks have camp mattresses and pillows so you will need a pillow case and sleeping bag. Each bunk has several hooks and a small shelf which was great for hanging hiking gear and clothes. Depending on the outside temperature, the lodge can get chilly so take that into account when packing. ||Lemonade, coffee, tea, hot chocolate and water are free to guests and three meals are provided for each night stay. Dinner was served family style at 6:30 and was salmon, mashed potatoes, broccoli, bread, salad and apple crisp the first night and pot pie, salad, bread and chocolate cake the second. During dinner you can place your order for a bagged lunch for the next day. Lunch consists of two sandwiches (pbj, ham or hummus), trail mix and a brownie/cookie. Breakfast is served at 7:30 and was pancakes, canned fruit and coffee cake the first day and french toast, canned fruit and pumpkin bread the second. Having meals like this out in the woods was great and we all really enjoyed them. Accommodating dietary requests or picky eaters might be tricky and although we had enough food those with a big appetite may want to pack a few snacks to have just in case. A mouse proof box in the lodge is available for guests to store any personal food. If you want to get an early start to hiking or are concerned about being back in time for dinner you can request early breakfast and the staff has oatmeal out and will leave breakfast bread and your bagged lunch out for you before you leave for the day. ||The lodge has a small store which sells snacks, patches and cell phone back up power and charges along with some gear. Keep in mind, there are no outlets in the lodge. Potable water is available outside as well. There is a limited selection of books, games and puzzles. My kids loved playing Uno, Jenga, Scrabble etc. after dinner each night. Quiet time is 10-7 and we found it to be very quiet even outside of these hours for those wishing to read or turn in early. ||Several trails are available from the lodge along with hiking info for each. We hiked HaBaSa in about 10 hours from the lodge and it was great to break up the hike by staying at the lodge before and after. As we have found hiking in the high peaks over the years, the people staying at the lodge were great to talk to and there was a mix of young and middle aged adults with the occasional kid. The staff was very friendly and helpful. ||This was such a great and memorable trip and we would definitely stay here again and recommend it to others as a great experience and a wonderful way to break up...

I've stayed here on several occasions, not out of necessity, but for the experience. The comfort, the food, the staff, and the camaraderie are what makes Johns Brook Lodge what it is.||It is a knotty pine-lined backcountry lodge with four bunkrooms (2 four-person and 2 ten-person) all off of a central family/dining room. The four-person bunkrooms are nice because of their size and the fact that they have electric lights (solar-powered, of course), but they are small and you have to go through the ten-person bunkroom to get to the shared bathroom. The ten-person bunkrooms are large and spacious with high ceilings and two windows for more light and ventilation. All beds come with a wool blanket and a pillow. Guests must bring a pillowcase and a sleeping bag or sheets. Mattresses are camp mattresses and are comfortable.||Bathrooms are shared and consist of 2 sinks in each and a ventilated pit toilet. They are clean and smell fine. When I stayed at the lodge, it was a full house, but I never had to wait for the bathroom.||Meals are delicious! Breakfast always consists of oatmeal and cold cereal, plus a hot entree and meat, fruit, and orange juice. Dinner is always plentiful and delicious, my favorite being the barbecue chicken. And the lodge staff go out of their way to make amazing desserts! You order your brown bag lunch at dinner the night before, which consists of 2 sandwiches (meat, hummus, or PB&J), trail mix, and cookies.||In the evening, guests often sit in the family room to play games, share stories, or sit out on the deck and watch the stars. In the daylight, there is a great view of Gothics from the porch.||The most impressive thing to note is that the staff backpacks in all of the perishable food and out all of the non-compostable waste. The staff is friendly, knowledgeable, and accommodating, making everyone's stay as wonderful as possible. Ask them questions and they are happy to talk, whether it be about your proposed hiking route or their time working at the lodge.||But do stay here, as it is an experience you will never forget. And you'll surely...

Johns Brook Lodge is a gem, located in the Johns Brook valley in the Central High Peaks. The caretakers are wonderful, and the people who make the 3.6 mile hike in from the Garden are almost guaranteed to be "good people." It is rustic, in the style of the Italian "Refugia". It is not a hotel. Breakfast is served at 7:30; trail lunches are provided; and Dinner is served at 6:30. If you need to leave early for a hike, the crew will leave your lunch in the fridge the night before. Lunches are hearty and enough for a typical day hike. Water is potable. A few snacks are nice to bring (mouse-proof storage is provided in the lodge) but you'll be fine on food--no need to bring a ton extra. There are two 10-person bunkrooms and two four-person rooms. There are only two bathrooms, and they are accessed via the 10-person rooms, so if you're in the 10-person rooms, people will come in and out during the night; earplugs are nice (and they provided them for us, but I'd bring to be safe.) The downstream 10-person room's windows look out over the septic field, so there can be a bit of a methane smell, but it's really no big deal. That being said, all things considered, take upstream if available. The kitchen / common room has games, books, and a couple of guitars. Hike-wise, most people do some version of the Range (Gothics-Armstrong-Wolfjaws or Saddleback-Basin or Haystack), or Big Slide. You can also do Marcy. Of course, it's also great to just bum around the valley, swim in the Brook, head to Bushnell's Falls, etc. Get an ADK membership before you book for a 10% discount. The ADK is a great organization and deserves your...